whip hand原来是指拿着鞭子赶车的人的手。他用鞭子指挥马匹快快赶路。换句话说,执鞭的手是掌握控制权的。当然习惯用语whip hand是用来作比喻的。我们来看个例子。 这段话说一个老人不愿意失去当家作主、控制子女的地位:
例句:Old Mr. Lee put his son and daughter to work in the factory he owned but he never let them have any responsibility because he wanted to hold the whip hand over them as long as he lived.
他说:老先生把儿子和女儿都安插在自己的厂里工作,却从来不让他们负主管责任,因为他想只要自己活一天就得对子女有一天的控制权。
这里的whip hand显然指控制权。